Writing as fast as I can.

For the last week, I’ve been carpooling to work with Lauren Graham.*

*I wish.

But I have been listening to her audiobook,”Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between” on my tedious daily commute.

Normally when I read a book or listen to an audio recording, I try to keep a pen and paper nearby to write down quotes or moments I don’t want to forget. Because of the craziness of this semester at school and work, I’ve had very little time to read, which has been crushing my spirit little by little. I thrive on stories, and when I can’t read them, I force myself to at least listen to them whenever I can squeeze them in.

I couldn’t exactly jot down her words of wisdom on the steering wheel. But I would plug in the orange auxiliary cable my sister left on her last trip home, and Lauren’s voice would fill my car, telling me stories of her time as a struggling actress and how it felt playing some of her favorite roles.

Each day when I pulled into the driveway at 7 p.m. after almost 10 straight hours of classes and work, I turned off the car, pressed rewind and quickly scribbled down as much as I could. I didn’t want to forget her words of comfort, her funny stories and lessons.

Her first book, “Someday, Someday Maybe” had the same effect on me when I read it a few summers ago. I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom and proudly editing my favorite quotes on colorful squares for this blog post (squares that I realize now are not nearly as cool-looking as I thought they were at the time).

Now that I’m done with her wonderful second book, I want to share some of her messages with you. These are words that made me laugh out loud on highways and made my eyes well up at red lights. Even out of context, I hope they provide the same encouragement to you that they did to me.

P.S. The quotes still aren’t cool-looking. Some things never change.

Graham has taken many detours as an actor, but she always somehow ended up where she was meant to be, even when the path didn’t wind the way she expected it to. She reminds us to never take our plans too seriously, because they can change in an instant. Always trust that you’re headed in the right direction, even when the road isn’t how you pictured it.

We can all relate to feeling like we’ve failed, but it is so important to see the humor in our struggles. I try to live by this, and I was happy to hear that one of my favorite storytellers does, too.

It’s been a semester of self-doubt for me. This short line in a book full of great sound bites felt like it was a godsend, directed straight at me to stop doubting myself and have faith.

Graham describes the surreal feeling of returning to “Gilmore Girls” after 10 years of being away. Watching it felt the same way – I still can’t really believe that at 21 years old, I got to see the Gilmores again. But I think this quote can be universally applied – there are times in your life you can’t fully believe a moment when you’re in it, and your brain doesn’t fully process just how blessed you are. I live for moments like that.

Even if you don’t watch “Gilmore Girls,” you can probably understand the emotions that come with returning to a place or person you thought you’d never get to see again. It’s indescribable, surreal and incredibly emotional. This was one of those blubbering-at-a-red-light moments for me.

Some context: Graham picked a random blouse off of a rack to wear on her first day back playing Lorelai Gilmore. At the end of the day when she went to change, she saw that the name brand on the shirt’s tag read, “Lorelai 2.” Small miracles, little coincidences, happy accidents – these are the things I tack to my wall and screen-shot on my phone. It’s important to be reminded of the fact that there’s something bigger than us, a force at work, no matter what you call it.

I love the idea of taking mental pictures, because nowadays, everything is documented. But sometimes, it’s impossible for even a photo to capture the true feeling of a moment, let alone a thousand words.

This is the last line of the acknowledgements in “Talking As Fast As I Can,” and – shocker – it brought me to tears. I wasn’t just sad that the book was ending and my car rides would soon become how they always were, with Taylor Swift and Adele’s voices filling the air instead of Lauren’s. But I was also incredibly moved by this line in general. I write a lot about how much stories mean to me, and until Lauren said this, I hadn’t reflected much on the fact that it began with my parents. They instilled in me a love for reading, writing and people that I can’t even begin to explain, a love that has shaped who I am. They are easily the greatest people in my life, and I don’t thank them enough. My only hope is that one day I can write something like this, and the last line will be thanking them for all the  incredible stories they’ve given me so far.

My advice: Keep a pen nearby. You never know when you might need to go back to your scribbles for inspiration. [Also, if you expected me to move on from the topic of “Gilmore Girls” after three blog posts about it, I’m sorry. It’ll be a while before I get over this.]